By Matt Grube & Todd M. Judd

In the middle of the July heat wave in central Philadelphia, we made our way to Harrisburg’s XL Live to forget where we were for a few hours and hopefully transport us in our mind to an island in the sun with waves crashing in the background and a breeze coming off the ocean to cool us down just enough.  It was my first time at XL Live, which is in the concrete jungle of Harrisburg, PA.  As we approach the venue, we are greeted by a beautiful and inviting mural of Jimi Hendrix on the side of the building.  There are several fans of Ballyhoo! dripping sweat outside before the venue opens – they are there for the VIP experience and the venue decides to let them and us inside, where the temperature is about 30 degrees cooler than what felt like standing on the surface of the sun.

After a brief wait in the lobby, we are invited into the club where Ballyhoo! has themselves set up on a row of bar stools poised to play an intimate acoustic set for those who purchased the VIP package.  Their stripped-down sound really showcases Howie Spangler’s vocals, and the band is in unison with the percussion and strings, just rhythmically setting the tone for a night of great music.  Rather than have a set list for the intimate acoustic performance, Ballyhoo! takes requests from the audience and plays what the fans want to hear, including Walk Away, and a special rendition of Happy Birthday for one of the VIP fans celebrating with her favorite band.

Once the special acoustic performance by Ballyhoo! was finished and before Beach Fly took the stage, we were able to explore a little more of XL Live.  What a cool venue, it appears they have an outdoor stage (thankfully they were not using it on this sweltering day), they have a cool balcony with a VIP section that is directly on top of the stage from the second level, they have an old school cigarette machine (one I haven’t seen in over 20 years with the pull arms that release the cigarettes from the machine), a nice concession stand, an outdoor patio with firepits for cooler weather, and 3 full service bars with really great prices (for a concert venue).

Looking like they just finished a surf session before changing into their best aloha shirts, Beach Fly hits the stage.  If they were not on tour, this might be a real possibility as both “Pops,” and Sven Peltonen shared that their hometowns are Brigantine, NJ (just outside of Atlantic City) which has a nice little surfing community.  In fact, Sven spent time in Hawaii and surfed some nice waves there.  Lead singer John DeMari is smiling ear to ear as the band opens their set with Make it Work, and immediately has the attention of the crowd.  The crowd is swaying back and forth as they are really starting to feel Beach Fly’s vibe as the band plays songs like Tall Grass, and Thinking of You.  John seems like he is having the time of his life as he states, “How cool is this that I get to tour with Dad (Pops) on guitar?!” Pops smiles behind his glasses and rips behind the guitar.  Meanwhile Sven is going off on the bongos, dancing and just trying to rip the leather skins off the bongos with the palms of his hands.  At one point during their set Sven puts on a gorilla mask and climbs to the second floor VIP balcony swinging one leg over the banister to sit on the railing while banging on a bongo he took to the top! Backing Sven up on percussion is Jordenn Garcia who is a great drummer that had previously been touring with Vana Lya while opening for Pepper’s Small Kine tour.   Beach Fly wraps up their set with their chill song, Crazy.  By the time they are done, they leave a lasting impression on the crowd that has been riding their wave of energy and positivity from the first chord.

Next up is the Law Records label trio Cydeways.  Cydeways first caught my ear a few years ago at Reggae Rise Up Maryland where their blend of high energy hip-hop, reggae, and party music made an impression on me and my musical library.  I was so looking forward to hearing them jam again live, and I can tell you they did not disappoint!  Fueled by street tacos Dustin Parks (vocals/guitar) fills the crowd with the haunting guitar riff from their song Shadows, to begin their set.  Casey Kernohan (percussion) and Kevin Harvey (bass) fill out the band and somehow make this threesome feel like an orgy of sound.  As the show progresses the band plays so many of their great songs while mixing in some banger covers including Loser by Beck and Sabotage by the Beastie’s… I am old enough to have seen the Beastie Boys play Lollapalooza back in 1994 and I remember the Beastie’s playing Sabotage and opening up the largest pit I have ever seen.  While the pit Cydeways created at XL Live was nowhere close to the size, the energy they put out would have the “3 bad brothers you know so well,” doing the pogostick – thank you Cydeways for mixing in that cover!  Of course they finished their gritty, fun-loving set with Are You Down, which only kept the crowd craving more of their special sound!

Bringing it back full circle from where our night began, but with that – whiplash you get when taking off on a high-speed roller coaster feeling, Ballyhoo! scorch the beginning of their set with 3 songs without interruption – Shellshock, Middle Finger, and Clip my Wings… it was an amazing great start to the show!  The original members of the band, Howi (vocals and guitar) and Donald Sangler (drums) have been rocking Ballyhoo! for 30 years, they are joined by other veterans of the band Scott Vandrey (keyboards) who’s been harmonizing and tickling the keys with the band for 25 years, and bassist Nick Lucera for the last 21 years.

Ballyhoo! out of Aberdeen, has the crowd singing along and dancing to some of the favorites like Social Drinker, Alcohol, and Walk Away.  For me, the highlight is hearing Howi and the band play one of my personal favorites written by Howi and released in 2022 – Mixtape, just has that guitar groove, rhythmic bass and drums, and some really tasteful guitar solos to go with the harmony of the song – I could listen to it all day reminiscing of making mix tapes for my high school girlfriend back in the day.  Ballyhoo! proved this hot evening in Harrisburg that after 30 years of playing together they still have a love of performing live, sound great and as they finished their set with – are not Selling Out!

By Matt Grube & Todd M. Judd